question Do we have an over dependance on technology?

[jnelsoninjax]

I am writing an argumentative essay, and I have chosen the topic We have an over dependance on technology. I am interested in everyone's thoughts on this subject.

[Rippleman]

Technology evolves with time. To cave man, fire was technology for cooking, lighting, tool for crafting, defense etc. So technically, we have always be dependent on technology.

[jnelsoninjax]

Point well taken. Should I rephrase the question to Modern technology or computers?

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

I don't think the current human population would be sustainable without modern technology, particularly in the aspect of our food supply. The amount of product (food) that we can produce these days is unprecedented. Without it, we would have famine on a massive scale.

[splur]

Could you last a week without the internet, your smartphone, or a computer? Test it out.

Write that essay by hand (or using a typewriter) just to make a point :D

[Gerowen]

We have become FAR too dependent on modern technology. More than once I've been in a store, standing in line with merchandise and cash in my pocket, and had the power go out and had to leave everything in the store because when the power is out, the cashiers can't be trusted to calculate the sticker price plus 6% sales tax by themselves. The gas pedal in your car is no longer directly connected to the air intake with a steel cable, it's got a computerized sensor that sends a signal to another computer that actually opens or closes your air intake. This caused a car I own to fritz out, and is the problem with all those Toyotas that were taking off all by themselves a few years back. I'm a computer guy and have no problem using technology to make life easier, but there comes a point where you have to realize you're putting people at risk and making things way more complicated than they have to be.

[greenwizard88]

No. 3 years ago I would have said yes, however, I've changed my mind. I think that technology has evolved to a point where it's sufficiently redundant where even a 1000 mile wide hurricane doesn't do a whole lot to prevent us from functioning, which tells me that either we don't use technology (false) or it's redundant enough that it's not something to worry about.

[Shiranui]

As human evolution has now slowed down considerably, technology is the only indicator of human progress we have, and without human progress, life, as a species, is pointless.

[The King of GnG]

I don't use my smartphone in every free moment, I can shut my computer down when I want/need to do technology-unrelated things like reading. I don't give a **** about tablets and cool apple gadgets. So no, as much as I'm a computer-guy since the Nineties I'm not obsessed with technology.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I wouldn't say that it's an over dependence on technology, I can go without a computer or a smartphone without breaking down. But I do notice when I don't have my phone for things like checking the news, or texting and phoning people. You suddenly realise how few telephone booths there are around...

[~Johnny]

Let's put it like this - if there was a country wide EMP that went off, we'd all be terribly, terribly screwed. Individually we could probably do without our own technology, but then there's the backbone of modern society that entirely relies on it from food production to communication and without it, we'd no longer be able to function as a society.

[seta-san]

could you go into the forest away from technology and survive with no provisions for a month or longer?

if yes than no

if no than yes

[Farstrider]

I would definitely say that we are overdependent on certain technologies. Computers being one of them most definitely! I had a friend a few years ago (I worked with him) who's Dad was an old fashioned Jewish businessman, he had a big manufacturing company and everything that he needed to know about his company he had in a A4 book that was held together with rubber bands. You could ask him anything and most of the time he knew the answers without even looking! I know that this is an exception these days but I was always amazed by this man.

[Dan~]

Yes we do. These days if you go to a shop and there is an issue with the tills, there is a HUGE queue because people forget how to do mental artithmetic so there trying their hardest to count things up (till side)

Also I would much prefer to type an email/letter etc then writing purely on the fact that my hand writing looks like bum.

But I wouldn't class it as overdependency though, it's just using the best tools for the best job, why do mental arithmetic when we can use a calculator, why use pen and paper when typing is quicker, auto corrects, clearer etc.

[Growled Member]

I'm not obsessed with technology. However, I can't live without it because my job and my personal life depends on it. From doing dozens of emails a day at my job to using Facebook to contact my Facebook that's scattered across the country. I probably could go back to the old ways of doing things, but I wouldn't be nearly as efficient as I am now.

[devHead]

I am writing an argumentative essay, and I have chosen the topic We have an over dependance on technology. I am interested in everyone's thoughts on this subject.

I think it's likely, especially when, without spell-check, 98% of English speaking people think there's a letter 'a' in dependence. Nothing against you JNelson; you've got good posts.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

As a population, yes. Very few people have what it takes in terms of knowledge and determination to survive on their own in the wilderness (think Bear Grylls from Man vs. Wild). The vast majority of people are so used to technology that they panic at the loss of a phone or Internet connection. It's not their faults either. As a species, we've evolved to make use of technology by inventing and using tools. We lack things like an extra layer of fat to keep us warm at night or sharp claws and teeth to kill prey with.

As individuals, we may have flaws that would make it very hard to survive without things like periodic medical assistance or organ transplants. For example, people that require a puffer for asthma or insulin injections for diabetes would obviously be at greater risk (in a world where technology suddenly stopped working).

Things like computers and phones are both a tool and a comfort. But things like medical technology or advanced food production techniques, now that stuff will be missed more by those that know their stuff. Anyway, I definitely think we have an over-dependence on technology.

[DrJohnSmitherson]

Not at all. Not even the slightest. We could do just fine without. We just like our technology a lot. I hate when people say we are over dependent or how we don't do enough social interaction because of technology. There's nothing wrong with it. Accept it.

[exotoxic]

As a whole society yes, The whole world would collapse if we didn't have technology to keep it connected and do the hard work. On a person to person level then a lot of people would have problems but not all.

[Linkinfamous]

Of course not. Why would we need to survive in the wilderness? The odds that an individual in a modern society would be put into that kind of situation at any point in their lives is basically statistically insignificant.

But I might be biased. I'm an engineer. I make technology.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I don't see it as an over dependance, we are just making use of the resources with thanks to the intelligence of our brightest minds. Our lives haven't really been based around our evolution for hundreds of years.

[nvllsvm]

Could you last a week without the internet, your smartphone, or a computer? Test it out.

Write that essay by hand (or using a typewriter) just to make a point :D

What would that accomplish? I don't see depending on technology. If all our beloved technology were to disappear or stop functioning, then we could adapt. Until that day, I will love using it.

*holds keyboard in air* "From my cold, dead hands!"

[TheLegendOfMart]

Technology evolves with time. To cave man, fire was technology for cooking, lighting, tool for crafting, defense etc. So technically, we have always be dependent on technology.

Take away the tools to create fire and you can fashion your own, in modern days everything (for the most part) is stored electronically, take away electronics/electricity and you would lose everything, how many people today have the knowledge to survive away from technology, most people today would just go to google or wikipedia to find out how to cultivate crops, build a shelter, etc..

[I am Not PCyr]

Let's put it like this - if there was a country wide EMP that went off, we'd all be terribly, terribly screwed. Individually we could probably do without our own technology, but then there's the backbone of modern society that entirely relies on it from food production to communication and without it, we'd no longer be able to function as a society.

the perfect reply.

the answer is a crystal clear Y E S

and like he said its a matter of WHEN not if.. the clock is ticking

some people need a history lesson..

This has happened before more than once and when it happens like it did 100 years ago

then we are seriously screwed big time !

doesn't matter if people think they can turn off their computer or stop texting..

the planets infrastructure and teh electronics that swirl around our planet keep this

bloated selfish society afloat.. for now anyway

edit:

http://en.wikipedia....r_storm_of_1859

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm

[TheLegendOfMart]

the perfect reply.

the answer is a crystal clear Y E S

and like he said its a matter of WHEN not if.. the clock is ticking

some people need a history lesson..

This has happened before more than once and when it happens like it did 100 years ago

then we are seriously screwed big time !

doesn't matter if people think they can turn off their computer or stop texting..

the planets infrastructure and teh electronics that swirl around our planet keep this

bloated selfish society afloat.. for now anyway

Not wanting to get fantastical, I think thats what society needs today, to wipe the slate clean and start fresh, only the people who are selfless would work together to survive, everyone else would just die off.